IAR Recyclers Newspress January / February 2015

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NHTSA on Counterfeit Airbags
ICRA Introduces HSB 53 on Airbags
NHTSA is aware of a problem involving the sale of
counterfeit air bags for use as replacement parts in
vehicles that have been involved in a crash. While
these air bags look nearly identical to certified, origi-
nal equipment parts — including bearing the insignia
and branding of major automakers —
howed consistent malfunctioning ranging from
non-deployment of the air bag to the expulsion of met-
al shrapnel during deployment. NHTSA has identified
certain vehicle makes and models for which these air
bags may be available and believes this issue affects
less than 0.1 percent of the U.S. vehicle fleet. Only
vehicles which have had an air bag replaced within
the past three years by a repair shop that is not part
of a new car dealership may be at risk. For the full
report visit the NHTSA website at
The Iowa Collision Repair Association proposed
House Study Bill 53 [An act relating to counterfeit,
non-functional, or un-safe air bags, providing penal-
ties, and including effective date provisions]. This bill
provides that a person who manufactures, imports,
installs, or sells any device with the intent that the de-
vice replace an air bag in a motor vehicle, and who
knows or reasonably should know under the circum-
stances that the device is a counterfeit, nonfunctional,
or unsafe air bag, or causes a motor vehicle’s diag-
nostic system to inaccurately indicate that the motor
vehicle is equipped with a functional air bag when a
counterfeit or nonfunctional air bag is installed, or
when no air bag is installed, is guilty of an aggravated
misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison
and up to a $6,250 fine.
Page 18 Recyclers News Press